TREVOR BRANCHAssociate Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington

JOHN PANDOLFI ARC Professorial Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Australia

Moderated By: MARY O'CONNORAssistant Professor, Department of Zoology and Associate Director, Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia

Since the retreat of glaciers poleward over 10,000 years ago, humans have left an ever increasing fingerprint on ecological systems across the globe. The environment is now dominated by people—approximately 1/3 of land area has been transformed for human use and 1/4 of global productivity diverted to human consumption. While concepts such as wilderness attempt to escape this reality, there is virtually no habitat on earth devoid of some sign of humans influence on the globe—be it chemical, thermal, or a missing or introduced species. Today, this imprint is so pronounced that scientists are actively debating naming a new geological epoch demarcated by the sign of humans on the earth system itself: the Anthropocene.

In the shadow of this debate, the HUCE seminar series "Ecological Systems in the Anthropocene" will examine the future of social-environmental systems in a globe heavily impacted by humans. Each year the series will present a set of speakers and events (e.g., seminars, panels, debates) focused on one perspective under this theme.

The theme for the first year is "Novel ecosystems, novel climates: Is today’s environment unprecedented?"